Under the right circumstances, football can be such an uplifting and inspiring game. At the same time, it can be tragic and heartbreaking. It’s these parts of football that make it the perfect topic of documentaries that can add a human element to the game. While it’s not the same as watching football, a football documentary can be just as satisfying as watching a great game. That got us thinking about the greatest football documentaries ever made that real football fans need to watch.
Roll Tide/War Eagle
This is required viewing for any college football fan. It explains the backstory behind one of the most intense rivalries in college football and just how far some fans have taken it.
Viewers who have never experienced the Alabama-Auburn rivalry firsthand will gain some level of understanding of what it’s like to be part of it from both fans and players who have lived it.
The U
There is virtually no college football program that’s equal parts iconic and controversial than the Miami Hurricanes, which is at the crux of this documentary. It was so good that a sequel was released to continue the story of the Hurricanes.
The two-part documentary explains how Miami football was able to rise to prominence, the trouble it stirred up along the way, and ultimately the scandal that played a role in destroying it.
Vick
This movie isn’t exactly the NFL version of The Last Dance, but it’s somewhat close. Keep in mind that Michael Vick was once a top high school recruit and a star in college. More importantly, he was the type of quarterback who hadn’t been seen in the NFL before and took the league by storm.
That alone could have made a decent documentary, but then you add in Vick’s prison sentence on dogfighting charges and the fact that he returned to the NFL and became one of the league’s most polarizing players.
Pony Excess
If you want to know about the corruption in college football, this documentary is a great place to start. It tells the story of the SMU Mustangs, who became a powerhouse program on the backs of donors and boosters who offered top high school players money and gifts to play football at SMU.
When someone blew the whistle, the Mustangs became the first and only program to receive the “death penalty” and be completely shut down as a punishment. Of course, other schools were doing the same thing, so SMU took the fall for everyone before having to work its way back from literally nothing. Pony Excess is the ultimate insider’s guide to the world of college football recruiting.
Undefeated
For an inspirational story and an inside look at an inner-city high school football team, it doesn’t get any better than the Undefeated. That’s not our opinion either, this movie won an Oscar for best documentary.
It follows the story of the Manassas Tigers in Memphis, a struggling program that’s desperate to have a winning season. Through the eyes of players and coach Bill Courtney, the documentary shows that there is so much more to high school football than football.